


Escapism

by happycookiie



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Grady Memorial Hospital, Post-Canon Fix-It, Reunions, Romance, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 22:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6212983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happycookiie/pseuds/happycookiie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shortly after Noah escapes the hospital, Beth breaks out again and does too. And when she finds him... he's with Daryl and Carol. Beth's been dreaming of the day she'd see them all again, but a little escapism once in a while always helps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escapism

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: It's been a while since I read a good old reunion fic... What about one that Beth escaped the Hospital after Noah did and before Carol got taken? I'd like a scene where Beth gets overwhelmed by the group at some point and takes Daryl's crossbow to go hunting alone.
> 
> The final Bethyl prompt I got on tumblr. Hope you enjoy it!

She can't believe it's actually them. She's been dreaming of the day they'd appear out of the blue and leapt back into her life again for so long, wondering when they'd come to save her from that awful hospital… And there they are.

Daryl and Carol, the two of them standing with Noah at the other end of the street in downtown Atlanta, staring at her like she's some kind of ghost.

They're standing next to the boy she worked so hard to help escape, weapons hanging from their arms limply like they're about to fall, and Daryl's does.

The crossbow drops to the ground and the crumpled _thud!_ echoes through the empty street. Beth stands there, staring at them with the hunting rifle she scrounged from the Grady armoury, watching them stare at her with bulging eyes. Carol breaks into a smile, something Beth senses is rare now after all she's been through with her solitary and banishment, and shifts her gaze to Daryl, who's standing frozen on the spot.

He hasn't moved since the crossbow dropped, and his hands hang loosely by his sides like they're not even attached to him.

His hair is long, Beth notices about him then. A lot longer than it was when she last saw him, and it looks to be in serious need of a wash, much like the rest of him. His arms are glistening with sweat and grime, and he looks even more wild and dishevelled than she's ever seen him, but she's never seen a more comforting sight than him right then.

Noah joins Carol in wearing a smile, and Beth feels the beginnings of one tugging at her own lips. Daryl's expression is still glazed with shock and engulfed emotion, and even though she can't see his eyes because of the distance, she knows they're wobbling with the damp of budding tears.

She does smile then, simply because she just can't help it, and she sees Daryl's expression change.

He balls his fists and steadies himself, and only then does she notice he's been shaking ever so slightly. He balls his fists tight and starts to shift, and Carol is full on grinning and squeezing Noah on the shoulder when he starts to move forward.

His walk breaks into a run, and suddenly he's bounding down the street towards her with his arms swinging at his sides. Beth's mind goes blank for a moment as she stares at him drawing closer, until she swallows the growing lump in her throat and lets her own feet carry her forward as well. They're both running now, his face adorning a great big toothy smile and her wearing one similar. She's still got the gun in her hands as they're drawing within a couple of feet close, so she lets it go and tosses it to the side before increasing speed and colliding with his open arms.

She basically _jumps_ into his arms and he catches her, hands winding around her torso and squeezing her as she fastens her arms around his neck and releases a half-gasp-half-laugh. He arches forward and curves her body in a strange angle to hug her tighter, his face shoved into her neck and breathing her in like air. She lets out a breath of her own and it suddenly feels like, after all this time… She can breathe again.

Finally.

After some tight squeezing and swaying, Daryl pulls back—without removing his hands—and stares down at her. His eyes are wobbling like she thought, shining with glittering aquatic stars, and his smiling mouth trembles.

Beth stares back, tears building in her eyes too, and her smile widens impossibly as she tightens her fingers around the hair at the nape of his neck.

After a period of intense gazing into each other's eyes, the feeling overwhelmingly raw and weirdly exposed, Daryl pulls her closer by the waist again and buries his face into her collar once more. She rubs a hand up and down his shoulder blades and giggles.

The grin won't wipe off her face, and frankly she doesn't want it to.

She sways in Daryl's arms and presses her smile to his shoulder, eyelids flickering open to stare at the worn smelling leather there. As she does, she takes the opportunity to look up and see Carol and Noah walking over, both still smiling wide.

Carol directs her a heartfelt look, and her grey brows quiver, and Beth breathes out in angst and relief. Eventually Daryl releases her, a hand still gripping her shoulder possessively, until Beth walks out of his grasp and over to Carol, and embraces her. The woman chuckles and winds an arm around her waist, leaning her head against the side of Beth's blonde ponytail. She hugs her for a while before releasing her and giving an eloquent nod.

Noah smiles, looking both happy and awkward at the same time, and Beth bursts out into short laughter at the sight of him before hugging him too.

"Easier to get out without me slowing you down, right?" he jokes, and Beth couldn't stop smiling then even if she tried.

"It doesn't matter," she says, pulling away, "I'm out now. We're _both_ out."

"Noah told us you helped him get out, even if it meant you getting caught and put back in there too." Carol says, "You saved him… And then you saved yourself."

She glances at Daryl during that last part, but Beth doesn't think much of it when he shrugs and looks away. She smiles helplessly and shrugs her shoulders bashfully.

"I guess I'm not totally useless,"

"You're not useless at all," Daryl remarks, and Beth looks at him softly.

His eyes don't tear from hers and he plants a hand on her shoulder again, something that's becoming his thing apparently, and he bites the inside of his cheek. His expression holds the same intensity from the night in the funeral home, and her heart flutters at seeing it again.

Because that look proves she's not going delusional with her time-fractured memories.

She remembers the way he looked at her before, and she sees the way he _still_ looks at her. With that same ember flickering away in the silent blue.

"…Ya saved yourself."

_Said you could take care of yourself._

She tilts her head, unconsciously towards him, and nods.

"I did."

.

.

She may have been dreaming about the day she'd see them all again for months, but now she's got what she wanted it seems… A lot.

Like she got everything she wanted, but it's so much it's almost like it's _too_ much.

Maggie was _more_ than beyond overjoyed to see her again, and Michonne graced her with an eager bear hug. Carl was happy to see her, Glenn too, and pretty much everyone else that knew her, since there's a few new additions to the group.

They're her family, and she knows now that they love her.

She knew it before, but now she knows it even more.

Because they were on their way to save her.

Daryl and Carol… They were in Atlanta looking for her, and if they couldn't get her out by themselves, they would've gone back to the others for backup. She just beat them to it, is all.

And now they know she's capable. She can take care of herself, and she doesn't need them all babying her like a piece of cargo.

She made it.

She might not be like them but she made it, and that's allowed her to earn her true place in the group.

But even so, it still feels like too much.

Maggie hasn't left her side in weeks, practically having glued herself to her as they all flee the state and make their way towards Virginia, towards the place that Noah calls home. It's nice, considering they hadn't seen one another in so long, and Maggie practically admitted to having thought she was dead… But it still feels like something heavy is pressing onto her subconscious.

Like a weight, persistent and harsh.

So one night, when everyone except a bulky man on watch that she doesn't really know called Abraham is asleep, she sneaks out of Maggie's slumbering embrace.

She tip-toes over to where Daryl's sat cross-legged by their broken down vehicle, treading quietly so not to wake him because she knows what a light sleeper he is. She spies his crossbow on the ground by his knee and stalks closer, gently reaching over and plucking it up delicately.

Stepping away without treading on any twigs or crispy leaves, she slings the weapon over her shoulder and wanders off to the edge of the camp and into the woods.

She might've been dreaming about being with her family again for moons and moons, but she still wants to feel like she can make it herself.

_I made it. I'm not like you or them but I made it, and I don't wanna forget that._

_I wanna remember that I can keep myself alive without relying on you all for protection._

They wouldn't understand if she told them. Wouldn't understand what she was trying to prove.

Maybe Daryl would, but he'd still make a scene about coming with her if she insisted on sneaking off into the woods alone, with _his_ crossbow of all things. He believes in her, but he still worries for her. They all do.

They may love her, but they wouldn't understand.

_I'm gonna get out._

_Just like Noah._

_She_ did that. Not them. She did it and she made it… and that's what proves she can live.

That's what proves she's a fighter.


End file.
